Here comes Paper Mario, the No.1 GameCube game of all time. This time in the Mushroom Kingdom, Mario must save Princess Peach. Shocking, isn’t it? The difference is that everything is made of paper!

While the reason for characters being seen to be made of paper is unclear, Mario can now transform himself into a dart, boat, airplane or just a thin sheet of paper by mere folding, all thanks to the ancient Japanese art of Origami. Mario wages battle with outlandish characters in a very pleasing turn-based system. In this, the player makes use of a menu-based defence or offence which can garner bonuses if completed within certain time limits.

Each partner can also suffer from an attack similar to that faced by Mario, which reduces their Heart Points. When it reaches zero, the character can no longer help Mario in the battle and must be revived. Those you have played Final Fantasy will know exactly what this feels like.

For every successful encounter against an enemy, Mario collects points that can move the player up to the next level. All battles are fought before an audience who can assist or deter a player based on his performance. Players can also control Mario’s main enemy Bowser. The graphics are a mix of two and three dimensions. Humour and witty dialogues work the Nintendo magic.

Recommended

Reviews

Perfection

Oh wow, where do I even start? I grew up playing Nintendo games so I'm probably a little bit biased, but I was never all that into Mario. I was more of a Zelda kid :) When the original Paper Mario came out for the N64 I was pretty unsure of the strange idea but it was so fun that it stuck, so when news of a sequel started flowing I knew right there and then that I had to have it.

So good, so damn good. Battles are awesome, and fought in a very Final Fantasy style, only this time in front of an audience. It's pretty cool stylistically speaking. They call this the best GameCube game ever, and I am inclined to agree... Easily the best Mario game on the GameCube anyway!

Oh, and the Wii version is awesome too, but this is best of the three in my opinion.